Mirage dreamed.
It was always the same dream, of laying on the floor of a cabin as Eris stood over her. Eris, the most powerful being in any reality. In fact, so powerful that reality was nothing but a plaything to her.
In the dream, it was ecstasy as Eris’s magic crawled through her mind, tearing out anything that could or would rebel against her. This all powerful thing remaking her to be perfect in a new way, perfect for her pleasure.
In the dream, Luna didn’t arrive and talk to her, slippery prying sneaky words working underneath the skin of Eris’s changes. In the dream, Luna didn’t ‘save’ her by hiding her away to recover, only to come back days later to find Mirage playing with the servants like dolls, their free will broken, their bodies reshaped to be more interesting.
In the dream, it was just Mirage and Eris, and Mirage never came back after being tricked and lied to and broken, to confront her.
Eris laid on top of her, claws sliding along Mirage’s scalp, interlaced in her mane and sending shivers down Mirage’s spine.
“Who am I, to you?” Eris asked.
“Delicious poison, I can never get enough,” Mirage whispered, her voice raspy and sore from screaming.
“I don’t want you to crave poison,” Eris whispered mournfully, her thumb grazing Mirage’s ear, making it flick to the side.
Briefly, Mirage fantasized about Eris puncturing her ear with that claw, and making her wear earrings and jewelry, things she’d weirdly avoided before, how odd. How odd she’d never marked her eternal body before to show who owned it.
“You make me bliss,” Mirage sighed happily. “You make me pure. No conflict or fear, no struggle, just… just… You, running through my veins.”
“How horrible,” Eris sighed as she picked up the alicorn and carried her to the bed, laying her down. “How… cruel, how selfish the old Eris was…”
“She was perfect, she made me perfect,” Mirage groaned. “This isn’t how the dream goes, stop… Stop changing it, let me… Let me dream.”
Mirage tasted blood in her mouth and pain twitching through her mind, just barely hidden by the intoxicating force that Eris had once left in there, subduing her, smothering anything that might rebel and leaving only love in its wake.
“No matter what I do,” Eris realized as she tucked the pony in, speaking in hushed tones. “You will always be focused on me. Whether out of love or fury, you’ll be looking towards me every second of your life, unless…”
Mirage whimpered in her sleep as Eris put her claws around the back of Mirage’s head, the gentle touch working between her hair to hold her, as she raised her leonin paw behind her.
“I think,” Eris whispered sorrowfully. “I love you more than that old Eris ever did. Because of that love, I’m going to set you free.”
She twisted her fingers like undoing a knot, and a flash of blinding white light flowed out from her, washing over Mirage, as the flames flickered out and died on her body and mane leaving behind soft pink curls.
Celestia opened her eyes. She could remember it all, blurred together like muddy water swirling around her. But the first thing she noticed was the absence. The aching hollow spot where once there had been absolute certainty. She’d been obsessed, dedicated and attached to… To who?
“Hey,” a voice called from the door.
It was a tall bipedal creature, a mishmash of different creatures stitched together into something unique and strange.
“My name is Eris. You just woke up, I was thinking… I could take you to your sister?”
Celestia worked her jaw, feeling very tired and very confused, before slipping off the bed to stand, stretching her wings.
“I suppose that… would be a good first step. My name is Celestia. How did I get here?”
“I’ll explain,” Eris said gently. “With your sister’s help, we’ll tell you the truth of everything, if you just come with me.”
Celestia hesitated for only a moment before nodding and stepping forward to follow her.
“Alright, ‘Eris’. I suppose I can be patient. Lead the way.”